RALEIGH, N.C. — Better settle in. All four games figure to be the same.
The Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets only can play it one way, apparently. Tight. So it went Saturday, and so it now has gone in the first two games of this four-game set, needing more than 60 minutes to settle it.
The Blue Jackets won Saturday in a shootout, 3-2. Patrik Laine and Oliver Bjorkstrand had the shootout goals for Columbus (13-12-7). Dougie Hamilton had the lone shootout goal for the Canes (20-7-3).
The Canes, and the fans at PNC Arena, believed Hamilton had scored the winner in overtime, but an official review for offsides confirmed that Andrei Svechnikov had preceded the puck into the attacking zone, wiping out the goal.
Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins had robbed Martin Necas of a game-winning goal earlier in the overtime, gloving a shot after a crisp move from his right to left after Sebastian Aho’s setup pass.
Warren Foegele’s goal with 4:13 left in the the third period pushed the Canes ahead 2-1. Foegele crashed the net, banged the puck past Merzlikins and then tumbled to the ice on an all-effort kind of play.
But Seth Jones tied it 2-2 with 28.4 seconds left in regulation after the Blue Jackets pulled Merzlikins for a sixth attacker.
Svechnikov’s second-period goal, also on a rebound, gave the Canes a 1-0 lead. Bjorkstrand tied it for the Blue Jackets later in the second.
Hamilton’s assist on the Foegele score gave him points in 11 straight games, tying the franchise record for defensemen set by Mark Howe in 1980.
The Blue Jackets won, 3-2, Thursday in a game that also went to overtime — Jones had the OT winner in that one. That came after 60 minutes of tight-checking, physical play.
It was more of the Saturday. Both teams took away time and space, clogged the neutral zone, blocked shots and put sticks on sticks in front of their net defensively.
Svechnikov’s goal, his first 5-on-5 score since Feb. 4, came in the second period after Jordan Staal won a draw in the Columbus zone. During a puck battle to the side of the net, the puck bounced out to defenseman Brett Pesce, who fired a shot.
Svechnikov batted the puck in the net, then broke into a relieved smile. His recent scoring slump — two goals in 21 games before Saturday — had been frustrating for a player who expects so much from himself.
